Tuesday, March 25, 2008

President Bush has been an outspoken critic of steroid and substance abuse by baseball players. His name came up once in the Mitchell Report that documented the widespread abuse of performance enhancing substances by baseball players.

...The Nationals’ starting catcher - and hence a natural choice to catch the cermonial first pitch - is expected to be Paul Lo Duca.

Lo Duca’s name comes up 37 times in the Mitchell Report, which said a former Mets clubhouse assistant who has acknowledged providing substance-enhancing drugs to players “estimated that he engaged in six or more transactions with Lo Duca.”

So here’s the potential opening-night visual: The president who is concerned about substance abuse in baseball winds up and throws the ceremonial pitch to a catcher linked to substance abuse. It’s all smiles and happiness as president and catcher pose for the post-pitch photo.

Would you call for somebody else to handle the ceremonial catching chore?

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Thanks. I thought it, decided not to post it, then saw you ask how low we could go. So, take some credit for yourself, you bring out the cretin in me.

I've got to do something to earn my keep. I'm certainly not dishing out any useful baseball analysis. Plus, I need something to distract me from the temptaion to open that Obama thread. That would just be trouble.

President George W. Bush -- 2001
Defense was the specialty of George W. Bush when he played in the Central Little League of Midland, Texas, during the 1950s and he has cited Little League as providing his fondest childhood memory.

Oh, yeah? What was Bush's Zone Rating? Did he play behind a lot of groundball pitchers? Anybody have MLE's for the Midland Central Little League...?

I didn't notice this until now: why is the Nationals-Braves just a one-game series? The Nats open their new park on Sunday night, then play in Philadelphia the following day. What an odd set-up. Anybody know why?